Time and Again
by WolfbrotherTitan
Summary: This is a Naruto/Female Haku romance. Naruto dies, but doesn't stay that way because the Kyuubi offers him a chance to do it all again, to fix what once went wrong, and along the way to become what he should always have been, a ninja legend!
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto.

Summary: Naruto lost in his fight against Pain and nearly died, but Kyuubi decided he wasn't ready to die and did something to change the world. Now Naruto finds himself back at the beginning of his adventures with all the knowledge he needs to right what once went wrong. This is a Naruto x Female Haku story. Credit were credit is due:

1) RauruSan – Story: A Second Chance

2) PsychkoSama – Story: Making Uzumaki

The basic premise for RauruSan's story and mine are the same, but the execution will be very different as I have no intention of…well, you'll see. It was PsychkoSama's story that made me really want to write a story with Naruto and a Female Haku. Though I'd always planned to do a story with this pairing I hadn't planned on doing it so soon.

In only a few short hours Akatsuki had nearly wiped Konoha out, worse yet was the fact that they had done so much damage and they weren't even all there! It was just the guy claiming to be the leader, who, oddly enough, seemed to be several different people! Needless to say, this all made for a very confusing fight for our resident blonde hero.

When Naruto arrived on the scene and saw the devastation wreaked upon his home he was angry, truly angry for one of the first times in his life, and if he were to look back on that moment he'd be the first to admit that he might have lost it. Unfortunately, he was sure there'd be no more looking back for him, not with the amount of blood he was losing anyway.

He was pretty sure he was dying and the worst part was that someone had just yelled out that she was in love with him. He had been shocked to hear those words from Hinata, but at least he finally understood why she'd spent so much time blushing whenever he'd been around. He smiled a little thinking of all the fun they might have had, but as his vision started blacking out on him he quickly turned his thoughts away from Hinata.

Baa-chan, I'm sorry, but it looks like I won't be able to take over your job…I sure hope Konoha survives this somehow. Sakura-chan, sorry about not getting the teme back. Kakashi-sensei…always late, I guess I was the one too late this time. Iruka-sensei, Teuchi-san, thanks for all the great ramen. Ayame-nee-chan, you just got back…I was looking forward to…some…new…recipes….

There were others Naruto wanted to spend his last moments thinking about, but he just didn't have the energy.

And so a Ninja Legend was snuffed out…or so Naruto expected, but the 'damn Fox' was screaming at him, so with a final effort he entered the sewer mindscape he was so familiar with.

Suddenly he felt rejuvenated and was about to go back to his body, thinking the 'possibly not worthless Fox' had healed him, but that thought was squelched by Kyuubi's roar, which shook the whole place. With that Naruto decided he could thank the fox before going back to the fight, so he rounded a corner and was face to enormous face with Kyuubi.

"**You…FOOL!!" **Kyuubi was enraged and it showed as he paced his cell occasionally muttering about how Kami must hate him for sticking him with such an idiot.

Naruto chose to ignore Kyuubi's temper tantrum and just said, "What's your problem? Look, thanks for fixing me up, but I don't have time for this, Konoha needs me! My precious people need me!" He turned to go, but Kyuubi's paw shot out and grabbed him by the waist.

Trying for calm – something the greatest of all the Bijuu had had little need for over the millennia – Kyuubi said, **"You can't go back…BECAUSE YOU GOT US KILLED YOU LITTLE MORON!!!"** So, calm wasn't working, obviously. Pacing and huffing, it was a few minutes before he remembered he was holding the gaki and when he did he felt some gratification that Naruto was looking decidedly ruffled from being carried around like a dog toy.

Kyuubi chuckled a bit as Naruto tried to straighten himself out and asked, "What do you mean we're dead?! If we were dead wouldn't we finally be free of each other?!"

"**I had always hoped so, but apparently not."**

After a few moments Naruto crossed his arms in front of his chest and said, "So if we're really dead what do we do now?" He was adjusting remarkably well to the idea of being dead, but the idea of eternity stuck with Kyuubi seemed like the deepest pit of hell and he couldn't figure out what he could ever have done to deserve such a fate.

XXXXX

The next hundred years seemed to fly by…okay, so the first twenty crawled at agonizing slowness as the two mostly spent the time insulting each other, but after that…. Actually, after the first 20 they didn't speak for the next 20, then, when they finally did Naruto had asked if Kyuubi knew any good games they could play. Somehow that question caused them both to spend the next five years telling each other jokes and laughing their asses off.

Around their 52nd year stuck together Kyuubi started calling Naruto 'Kit' and Kyuubi became Kyuu-chan. Naruto had been mad for a time after Kyuubi had revealed she was female, but he got over it and by their 59th year they finally got around to playing some Shogi and Go. Naruto was amused that a giant demon Fox knew human board games well enough for her to teach him, and when he had asked how she had learned to play such games she just said she was full of surprises.

For the next 30 years they enjoyed countless games and Kyuu-chan told Naruto a lot about her past, but the most interesting detail, the original attack on Konoha, was a blank to her. She'd let Naruto explore her memories, but he couldn't figure it out either. Still, he did find that she was keeping a secret from him, and when he confronted her about it they had their first argument in over 40 years.

It was sometime in the 99th year that Kyuu-chan started acting nervous, but Naruto chose to let it slide and it wasn't until their 100th year together that she cleared her throat and said, **"Kit…there's a way, we might be able to get out of here."**

Her hesitancy concerned Naruto, but in the last hundred years he'd calmed down a lot, so he waited for her to continue at her own pace. It took a while, but eventually he understood that she had the power to send them back to Konoha, but it would be sometime in the past and she wasn't sure when it would be. She was also worried that they might be separated, and after so long together the idea of being apart was scary for him too, but he said, "I think we should do it."

After a few months of talking about it Naruto won the argument by saying, "Kyuu-chan, do you think we could have been stuck like this so long because this is what we were meant to be doing?"

Thus, they spent the next few years planning all the things they would change and how they would need to prepare for the inevitable fight with Pain. They knew they'd need to be stronger when the time came, but changing the past also meant risking that things would go so different that all their knowledge could be made worthless. Beyond that was the simple unknown question of when they'd show up in the past, and what the unknown costs of using this power could be.

It was the 108th year when they decided that they couldn't wait any longer, as there was only so much you could prepare before you just had to jump out and go for it. Naruto smiled at Kyuubi and nodded and in a brilliant white light he found himself somewhere, and some-when, else.

XXXXX

Naruto woke up and looked around, _my old apartment?_ He quickly gets up and rushes to the bathroom where he just stares into the mirror for minutes, before he faints away.

XXXXX

(Some unknown amount of time later)

Naruto wakes up again, this time from the bathroom floor, and as he stretches out some new kinks he slowly makes his way to the main room where he usually had a calendar up until Ojii-san had died.

Blinking and rubbing his eyes he takes a double take at the calendar, as he can't believe what he's seeing. _Kyuu-chan! Am I seeing things or am I all the way back at the beginning!_

**No Kit. You're not seeing things. It looks like you're back at the day after you found out about me and dealt with Mizuki-baka.**

That means that I can try to stop the teme from leaving us…and I can save…

**Easy Kit. Don't forget that's still a good two months away, so you need to get stronger.**

Stronger? I get that I won't be as physically strong as I am in the future, but I've learned all those jutsu and…

However, he was interrupted before he could continue, _**Kit, from what I can tell in here, you haven't learned any jutsu except the ones you had originally at this point.**_

But? All that work…how could I have lost that if it's my mind and spirit that were sent into the past?

**I think this was the cost Kit. You're starting over, but you know all the things that will make training easier and you have more incentive to train this time, so you should be able to get stronger faster.**

Thinking about it, Naruto decides that it won't be so bad having to relearn things, _and Kyuu-chan is right, I do have some major advantages over my younger self,_ he thinks to himself.

He considers the situation he's in and asks Kyuubi, _do you think I should tell Ojii-san about all this?_

…_**It's up to you, but remember this: there are always two sides to any coin. In this case, that is to say that he would be a powerful ally to help you fix things, but he could be an insurmountable barrier if you failed to convince him.**_

Naruto thought about this and decided that he wouldn't tell anyone about his situation unless he could be absolutely sure that he could convince them of the truth of it. That decided it was time to get on with the day.

Team placements weren't until the end of the week and it was only Tuesday now so the first thing he needed to do was get his chakra control up. He smiled as he thought about how far ahead of the teme he could get, but at the same time he was thinking that, maybe, if Sasuke became strong in the Leaf he wouldn't be so tempted to join Orochimaru.

**Be very careful with that line of thought Kit. If you help Sasuke become strong he might not leave, but he might just as easily become an even greater risk. Remember, at this point he's obsessed with killing his brother, and it was only after he met up with Itachi again after all those years that he went to join Orochimaru.**

Naruto scowled. _This is a lot more complicated than I thought it would be. I mean, we spent most of 8 YEARS discussing how to change things and what to change, but there are just so many ways things that could go wrong._

_**I know Kit, but you have me to bounce ideas off of, so don't hesitate to ask for advice…after all, I'm always here.**_ They both laughed at that; it was true after all, Kyuu-chan wasn't going anywhere, and only needed to sleep when he did.

Anyway, I better get started…oh man, I'm gonna be falling on my ass a lot trying to learn tree climbing again!

Kyuubi just laughed at the whining tone and soon enough, Naruto's predictions would prove correct.

XXXXX

Naruto found an unused training ground and got started. Sure enough, he ended on his ass quite a few times, but while his trip through time had erased the ability to tree climb, he still knew how. So, after three hours of slowly working his way up the tree he finally made it to the top.

Ha! Last time that took days of working my ass off!

**Kit, don't get arrogant, tree climbing is a basic skill that you used a lot in your old life.**

_Right,_ he only sounded a little dejected, but he had to admit that Kyuubi was right**, **arrogance never led anyone anywhere good.

**Anyway Kit, I'd recommend you keep it up, you can only get better.**

Naruto just nodded and started jogging up and down the tree, which he kept up for the next two hours, then he took a ramen brake. Five bowls later, he made his way back to his training ground, but found it being used so he spent an hour looking for another until he decided to try something else.

He grabbed some leaves and returned to his apartment where he started working on some simple balancing, and so went the rest of Tuesday.

Wednesday was balancing while tree climbing, which resulted in burnt up leaves and falling a lot as he got used to it

XXXXX

On Thursday Naruto asked Kyuubi, _should I be training with kage bunshin? I could get my control up fast and I could start on more advanced training._

**It's up to you Kit, but you don't want to draw attention to yourself…and, if you want my opinion, I'd say that learning with kage bunshin is an easy way out. It works great for tasks that are more complicated, but for basics I think you should do it yourself.**

He thinks a bit and figures he'll go with Kyuubi's instinct on this matter and decides to try his luck water walking today. This naturally causes a lot of dips in a small pond at the training ground he found; still, a little water never killed anyone, and by the end of the day he felt he was getting close, even if he wasn't there yet.

XXXXX

The alarm was set to go off at 5am so that Naruto could try to get some last minute training in and to his surprise and delight he was standing on the water just fine. He had decided to go to the hot springs for training this morning since that was how 'Pervy Sage' had taught him and he had to admit that the threat of dropping into scalding hot water was a good motivator for learning.

When he went back to the changing room he found that his property had remained untouched and he dispelled the two kage bunshin he'd left on guard duty. As he assimilated the memories he found that the clones had had to scare away half a dozen patrons who had planned on dumping various things on his clothes. The clones had, of course, appropriated the property that the civilians had left behind in their fright at the two supposed ghosts of the bathhouse.

Naruto was still laughing lightly as he walked into his classroom for team assignments. He was still a little early and no one had seen him come in so he decided to test his fellow students a bit, and have a little fun at their expense. So he walked up the walls and lay down on the ceiling, which he found a great way to test his chakra control. Lying down had, at first been a little difficult because he had to adjust his chakra as he went. _The feet might be the hardest single part of the body to focus chakra through, but it's nothing compared to this, _he thought.

15 minutes later Sasuke showed up and took his usual seat on the second row side. Naruto had always thought it odd that the teme had chosen a seat where only one person could sit next to him, but where everyone could easily see him if they just turned their heads. He didn't think to look up, he just sat there looking out the window, _playing the tragic little Uchiha,_ Naruto thought with some disgust.

Naturally, it wasn't long before the fan club arrived, all but Sakura and Ino that is. None of them looked up, but Naruto hadn't expected them to.

Next to arrive was Shikamaru and Choji. It was hard to tell if Shikamaru noticed as he quickly lay his head on his desk and seemed to fall asleep, while Choji just sat there stuffing his face. _It's a good thing I fell in the hot spring so much; it seems to have eliminated the smell of breakfast from me. Not that Choji's sense of smell is all that great, but surely that delectable smell of ramen from me. Surely, if Choji smelled that his mouth would be watering and jealousy would have him looking around for the source of the scrumptious smell._

While Naruto had been thinking about his breakfast, which had been a homemade ramen recipe that Ayame had given him in the future, his own mouth had begun to water and one of the fan girls almost got dribbled on, but he caught it before it could give him away.

The future members of Team 8 all arrived within minutes of each other, Shino then Hinata and lastly Kiba with Akamaru. Shino, he was pretty sure had seen him, as he began pushing his glasses up every minute or so and casually looking over, and slightly up. Naruto couldn't really be sure about Shino though since he was always hard to read, _even after we became friends in the future it was always hard to understand what was going on in his head._

Hinata's eyes never left the ground and Naruto could tell she was depressed, _probably because she thinks I failed,_ he thought. Turning his thoughts to Kyuubi he asked,_ Kyuu-chan, what should I do about her?_

**Kit, if you think she can make you happy I'm all for it, but she liked you for years last time around and never did anything. She saw what you were going through and left you alone because she was too nervous to even talk to you most of the time. So ask yourself this: do I want to be with her? If the answer is yes you know I'll support you, and if you decide to just be friends I'll support you.**

Naruto decided that it would take time to know for sure what he should do about Hinata's feelings, but for now he'd try to be a good friend for her. _Maybe if I become her friend her feelings for me will change, but maybe that'll mean she can be happy this time around. _He knew that in the future he came from she had been alone romantically and with his death he had finally understood why, but he just wasn't sure how he felt about her.

For now he decided to shelve the issue, and a good thing to because just at that moment Kiba walked in with Akamaru on his head. Kiba noticed nothing, but the little white dog immediately looked up and was about to inform Kiba of Naruto's presence when Naruto waived a doggy treat while holding a finger before his mouth. Akamaru got the hint and Kiba remained blissfully unaware of Naruto.

Next, and last to arrive, came Ino and Sakura, who had raced all the way to the Academy and both proclaimed their rights to the seat next to Sasuke upon arrival. They insulted each other a bit while exclaiming that since they were the first of the two to enter the classroom the seat was theirs. Naruto found the argument beneath him and almost chuckled when he realized the literal truth of that thought, but he caught himself in time.

Iruka came in and settled the matter quickly by having one of the boys more to the seat next to Sasuke and having the two girls who had been blocking the door sit on the opposite side of the room from Sasuke. Said teme smirked to himself, his most annoying fans would spend their last day in this class so far from him.

Naruto caught the smirk anyway and Kyuubi asked,_** Is he gay? I've always thought he must be.**_

Naruto failed to hold in a light chuckle, but fortunately it came at the same moment Iruka used the 'Big-Head jutsu' to quite the class down. _No Kyuu-chan…at least I don't think he is._

Iruka stood at his podium and was looking around, about to begin when he noticed that Naruto was no where to be seen. So he looked around a bit and finally looked up and gaped. Before anyone could follow Iruka's gaze Naruto dropped to the ground, waived to the class, and said, "What's up?"

Surprisingly Shino responded almost immediately with, "Not you anymore," and Akamaru barked in agreement. This didn't go unnoticed by anyone in the class as almost everyone was thinking something along the line of; _did Shino just make a joke?_ While everyone was gaping equally between Naruto and Shino, Naruto was hunched over laughing his ass off.

Sasuke was seething at the idea that he'd been sitting there all that time without the faintest clue that the 'dobe' was even in the room.

Eventually everyone composed themselves and Iruka cleared his throat before saying, "All right Naruto, you had your fun," _and I really need to find out how he learned to do that._ "Take your seat."

Kiba stood up and shouted, "What do you mean telling him to take his seat Iruka-sensei?! He failed!!"

Iruka just looked at Kiba a moment before pointing to Naruto's forehead, where his hitae-ate was. He then said, "Naruto passed a secondary test considerably harder than the one you all passed and is now in the same position as all of you." He let the cover story sink in before continuing.

"Now then, I just have a few last things to tell you before I give you your team assignments and send you on your way. First of all, let me say how proud I am of all of you. From this day forward you will be stepping into a larger world and though you may face dangers along the way I hope each and every one of you will do your village proud. I know some of you will decide not to go any further in your ninja carriers, but remember that it is the job of every graduate from this Academy to always try their best and remember…" from here Naruto sort of fell asleep.

Naruto woke up when Iruka said, "Team 7 will be Sakura Haruno, Naruto Uzumaki…"

But he was interrupted briefly as Sakura said, "I'm doomed," in a very dejected manner, while Ino was snickering at Sakura's misfortune.

"…and Sasuke Uchiha," Iruka concluded, Which caused another disturbance as Sakura shouted for joy and Ino tried to ask why Sakura got to be partnered with Sasuke. Iruka explained, "As the Rookie-of-the-Year, Sasuke was teamed with the kunoichi with the highest test grades, but worst practical scores, and the student with the worst overall scores. The thought is that the combination has the best chance of producing a strong team in the long run."

"But why hold Sasuke-kun back with the two worst in the class?" Ino asked.

Sasuke was thinking along the same lines, but when he looked up he had to admit there might be more to Naruto than meets the eye. _Still, they're only going to slow me down and I need to become strong so I can kill Itachi!_

Iruka mostly ignored Ino's question, just saying, "That's the way it is. Anyway, Team 7's sensei will be Kakashi Hatake. Team 8 will be Shino Aburame, Hinata Hyuga, and Kiba Inuzuka, and your sensei will be Kurenai Yuhi. Team 9 is still in effect. Team 10 will be Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara, and Choji Akimichi, and your sensei will be Asuma Sarutobi." This last caused some stir. Everyone knew the Sarutobi name, as that was the Sandaime Hokage's name, but before any questions could flow Iruka used the 'Big-Head jutsu' to scream out, "QUIET!!"

He settled some papers and said, "You are to wait here for your sensei. They should arrive within the next few minutes. In the meantime, everyone should rearrange themselves so they're sitting with their new teammates," and with that he settled himself into his desk as the students settled into the new arrangement.

After a half an hour all of the sensei had come for their new charges except for Team 7, but Iruka knew Kakashi's ways and just left when the last of the other teams had left.

Eventually – about two and a half hours later – Kakashi showed up. The first thing Kakashi saw was that he was missing a student, but he quickly found him by following Sasuke's jealous gaze up to the ceiling, where a blonde haired kid in a bright orange jumpsuit was meditating. He noted the jealousy and something else he couldn't identify in the last loyal Uchiha, and he saw the kunoichi in the group was staring worshipfully at the black haired boy, but it was the enigma on the ceiling that kept drawing his uncovered eye's attention.

He kept his face impassive even as he wondered who could have taught the boy such advanced chakra control. Before he'd been thinking that the Uchiha would be the only one worth teaching of his group, but now he wasn't so sure. Just then the boy on the ceiling dropped down and landed lithely before smiling at Kakashi and saying, "Yo! You must be our new sensei."

Before anyone else could say anything Kakashi said, "Meet me on the roof for our first team meeting and introductions," and he disappeared in a puff of smoke. On the roof, Kakashi was thinking, _the boy's eyes had been closed and he was the first to notice me. Could he really be far enough along with his chakra control that he can feel others chakra signatures? And if so, can he identify one person based on that information? No genin should be this far along at this point, even I wasn't so far along! Of course, I was younger when I became a genin, but still._

Kakashi was still deep in thought when Team 7 arrived, but he quickly got it together and said, "Okay, this is your basic meet and greet, so I want you to tell me about yourselves. What you like, what you don't like, dreams for the future, hobbies, that kind of stuff," and he sat back and relaxed.

Sakura looked confused, "Kakashi-sensei, maybe you could go first so we know what to do?" she asked, while trying to prevent her anger at the man for how long she'd been sitting around from showing on her face.

Kakashi pointed to himself like he wanted to confirm that she wanted him to go first. At her exasperated gesture he said, "Well my name is Kakashi Hatake, my likes are…well, I like a lot of things, my dislikes…I don't think I'll tell you that, as for dreams for the future and hobbies…well, I don't think I'll tell you those either. Now, moving along. How about you go first Pinky?"

"But you just told us your name!!" Sakura screeched.

Kakashi just nodded and gestured for her to begin. Sighing she did.

"Well, my name is Sakura Haruno. My likes are…" she turns to Sasuke and blushes a little, "my dislikes are anyone who gets in the way of my…" she turns to Sasuke and blushes a lot and says, "my dreams for the future are…" she turns to Sasuke and squeals happily.

Sighing Kakashi thinks, _great, a fan girl. Well, they haven't passed my test yet, maybe I'll get lucky and they'll be like all the ones before them._

Meanwhile, he points to Sasuke and says, "Go ahead brooder."

Sasuke crosses his arms beneath his chin and says, "Sasuke Uchiha. I don't really like anything while I dislike many things, and I don't have a dream for the future, because my future will be what I make it. I'll restore my clan and kill a certain man."

Kakashi points at Naruto thinking, _must mean he's intent on killing Itachi._

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki and my likes are ramen and training, my dislikes are how some people can't tell the difference between a sheath and a sword, here he exchanges a small nod with Kakashi. "As for the future, well, I'm going to be the GREATEST HOKAGE!!" As something of an afterthought he adds, "Oh yeah, and my hobbies are trying different kinds of ramen and training!"

Reviewing Kakashi thinks, _a fan girl with minimal hope of ever being anything worthwhile, a brooder with a superiority complex and a death wish, and a kid who likes ramen too much and wants to be Hokage._ Thinking about that last he comes to a startling conclusion and decides to rush things.

"Okay, meet me at Training Ground 7 at 8am tomorrow," and before anyone can say anything he once again vanishes in a puff of smoke, this time with a small piece of paper floating down to land at Naruto's feet.

He reads,

**P.S. It's a survival exercise unlike anything the Academy would have put you through so word to the wise: don't eat anything beforehand, as you'll just puke.**

"That's all it says," and Naruto hands the note off to Sasuke who re-reads it anyway. "Well, see you guys tomorrow," he says cheerfully, and walks over the edge of the roof. The other two get there in time to see him jump the last ten feet from the wall and walk off, but he quickly spins around and shouts out, "I'M STILL GONNA HAVE BREAKFAST AND I HOPE YOU TWO DO AS WELL!!" Then he turns a corner and is out of sight.

Back on the roof the other two are goggling after the departed blondes back, but eventually they both walk off down the stairs and head to their respective homes.

XXXXX

(Hokage's Office)

The Sandaime Hokage is busy with the dreaded paperwork that he had once been sure he'd never have to do again when he'd stepped down as Hokage. _Honestly, I almost believe Minato chose to summon the Shinigami just to get out of doing paperwork._

It was then he heard shouting coming from the lower floors and the sounds of fighting going on were obvious. Thinking something was up he almost got up and into a fighting stance when a very polite knock came from his door. Deciding that very few assassins who could get this far into Konoha, much less this far into the Tower, were unlikely to knock, he lowered himself back into his chair and called, "Enter."

In walked Kakashi Hatake, sharingan eye exposed, and even with his face mask covering half his face it was clear he was agitated. Still, he bowed politely before rising and calmly asking, "Who was Naruto Uzumaki's father?"

A/N – And there you have it, a new story. I guess I just can't help it. When something pops into my head it bounces around until it just has to come out and there is one more still in here that I need to get out. Unfortunately, this means that my previous stories are likely to slow down even more on updates, but I have no intention of giving up any, so I just hope that those who enjoy my stories will be patient with me…I am still new at this after all.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: No, I don't own Naruto, and honestly, I'm kind of glad I don't. Why you ask? Simple…I'm too lazy.

The Sandaime Hokage paled hearing those words from Kakashi. _Damn it! I should have known better than to have Minato's former student assigned as Naruto's sensei! …I'm too old for this._ Sighing he said, "Sit down Kakashi, this might take a while and you probably won't like what you hear."

Kakashi did as he was told and lowered his hitai-ate over his sharingan eye to preserve his chakra; he didn't think it would be a good idea to faint before hearing the whole story after all.

The Hokage coughs a little to clear his throat and begins. "Before I really start I need you to promise you won't interrupt me. I know I could order you, but I want your word instead."

Kakashi pales a bit, beginning to think his suspicion was correct, but nods his assent and the Hokage continues, "Naruto's father was Minato Namikaze, your sensei and the Yondaime Hokage." He puffs once on his pipe as Kakashi takes this in, all the while struggling not to break his word and speak up…or just try to throttle the Sandaime for keeping this from him for so long.

Letting out his held breath and a streamer of smoke the Hokage says, "Nearly thirteen years ago, when Minato sealed the Kyuubi into his own son he left me a letter saying that I was to keep Naruto's parentage a secret for as long as I could. He was afraid that his enemies would strike at the boy to attempt revenge on him, but he honestly believed that the village would honor his last request to see his son as a hero. Of course, you know quite well they did not, and, as such, it became even more important to keep the boy's identity a secret."

Here he pauses and glares very slightly at Kakashi before saying, "I expect you to treat all of your potential students equally. I know the council has ordered you to pass the Uchiha heir no matter what, but remember this: they have no right to order you to do any such thing. You don't owe Sasuke anything for what Obito did, nor do you owe Naruto for anything his father did for you. They, and Sakura Haruno, are a team, and must pass or fail as a team."

Kakashi nods, still keeping silent, as he has yet to be granted permission to speak.

Taking a shallow drag on his pipe the Hokage calms down again and he looks a little sad. "I'm sorry I couldn't tell you about your sensei's son, but I know what Minato meant to you and if you had known that his son survived you would have treated him differently, and then someone might have noticed. It was bad enough that I had a captain in Anbu guarding him, if you had shown any actual interest in the boy's life the council would have realized that something was up and anyone who looked could have guessed. Naruto is almost a carbon copy of Minato after all."

Kakashi nods and performs his unique eye smile. _How could I have missed it all this time?_ he asks himself. _I've seen pictures of sensei as a child and the only differences are the whisker marks Naruto has!_ He starts to slip from the seat, but quickly pops a soldier pill and nods for the Hokage to go on.

Sarutobi, however, just shakes his head and suggests, "If you have any questions you should ask now and go home to get some rest for your test tomorrow."

Kakashi bows his head and quietly says, "Thank you, Sandaime-sama, for telling me, and be assured I will not offer preferential treatment to any of these young genin hopefuls." Raising his head and standing he bows from the waist before saying, "I do need rest Sandaime-sama. Please forgive the method of my arrival. For now you have answered my questions. By your leave?"

Before dismissing him Sarutobi smiles and says, "Anytime you want to talk about Minato or anything else feel free to come see me." With that his smile grows, "Anything to delay the dreaded paperwork after all," and he chuckles a bit.

Kakashi joins the Hokage in his mirth, but after a moment he asks, "Sir, why don't you use kage bunshin to help with paperwork? Sensei always wondered about that."

Instead of answering Sarutobi dismisses Kakashi who immediately departs. Once he's sure he's alone he activates a privacy seal, causing a blue light to briefly illuminate his office before he begins bashing his head against his desk shouting, "Idiot, idiot, idiot," over and over again.

Eventually he calms down, removes the privacy seal and deals with the uproar Kakashi's visit caused the whole tower. Not long afterward, he returns to his office with two comfortable rolling chairs and two folding tables, uses kage bunshin to form two clones, and relaxes into his chair with his feet up and his favorite orange book open in front him.

His secretary was confused, and when she started hearing perverted giggling she decided she'd had enough of this weird job, packed her things, and left. From that day forward a male chunin was always tasked with the duties of the Hokage's secretary.

XXXXX

The next day dawned bright and clear and as 7:45am graced the scene at training ground 7 Sasuke and Sakura arrive from opposite directions, both with growling stomachs and somewhat sleep deprived looks about their faces. It wasn't until nearly 9am when Naruto showed, and when he did he was looking far too chipper for the other two's peace of mind so Sakura screeched out, "YOU'RE LATE BAKA!!!"

Naruto scratches the back of his head and looks around. "Well, since it looks like Kakashi-sensei isn't here yet I don't see how I can really be called late," he says while smiling foxily.

Sakura charges at him and tries to hit him, only for Naruto to duck out of the way, catch her as she's falling and shove her off at Sasuke where she collides with spectacular results as both fall to the ground. Sakura, on top, is stunned by the fact that Sasuke is holding her and had made sure to brace her fall.

Sasuke meanwhile is confused thinking, _why did I catch her? I had time to get out of the way so why…_

But before the thought could finish Naruto's gut busting laughter alerted both teens to the situation they were both in, what with their legs entwined and their faces mere inches apart. Daze broken Sasuke pushes Sakura to her feet and they both look away from each other, blushing.

The next hour passes with agonizing slowness for Sasuke and Sakura, but Naruto just starts pacing up and down a tree. Eventually Sakura asks, "How are you doing that Naruto?" Sasuke had also wanted to know, but felt it would be wrong for him to ask the dobe how to do something.

Naruto looks confused for a moment before noticing where he was. He had been having a conversation with Kyuubi and hadn't even realized that he'd been doing the tree climbing exercise so he rubbed the back of his head and smiled at the other two and jumped down to explain.

"It's a chakra control exercise called tree climbing. What it does is it uses a specific amount of controlled chakra to allow you to stick to any solid surface. Too much and you blow off, too little and you fall off, that's why its' such a great exercise, because the constant use of chakra in a controlled manner allows your overall control to improve. Thus, you can then do more while wasting less chakra, and since it also helps build your chakra reserves a little there's no such thing as too much control."

The others just looked on in shock until Naruto, feeling uncomfortable, said, "What?"

The other two shook the shock away and Sasuke asks, "So HOW do we do it?" He didn't like having to ask the dobe, but he knew he'd need this skill if he were ever to try to take on Itachi.

Naruto smiled, but asked Kyuubi, _should I tell them Kyuu-chan?_

_**I don't see why you shouldn't. It's just a basic skill after all, and it might help in the long run if the teme owes you.**_

Agreeing, Naruto quickly nods his head and explains. "Okay, but all there really is to it is to gather chakra to your feet and run at the tree. Like I said before, it's all about control, so you have to find just the right amount, but I should add that this exercise will be easier for Sakura than for you Sasuke."

Angrily, Sasuke demands, "Why is that dobe?"

Calmly Naruto explains, "Because, like me, you have more chakra than Sakura, thus a lot more will naturally flow through you, where Sakura will have little trouble with the actual exercise, but won't be able to continue with it for very long."

Somewhat mollified, Sasuke jerks his head once and goes over to a tree, but before he can start Naruto calls out, "It might be helpful to get a running start. Also, Sakura, if you plan to do the exercise I wouldn't recommend that you keep it up for more than 10 minutes. Otherwise you won't be ready for the survival thing that Kakashi-sensei is going to put us through later." Both teens nod at Naruto and start practicing.

Sure enough, by the time Kakashi arrives an hour later Sasuke is panting on the ground, the tree before him with kunai slashes almost half way up and Sakura is just recovering from her own, far shorter, training.

Kakashi clears his throat the get everyone's attention and Naruto jumps down from his tree and calmly asks, "So, when do we get started?"

Deciding to leave questions for another time Kakashi explains about his test. "So here's the setup. I have here two bells and the object of this test is to get them from me. If you manage to get one you pass, if not…you return to the Academy for another year."

Sakura screams, "WHAT?! Kakashi-sensei, how is that fair? We graduated already and now you're saying we might have to go back!"

Kakashi just smiles and says, "It's worse than you think. Think about this, even if two of you manage to get bells one of you is doomed to fail."

At this Sakura pales and Inner Sakura is screaming at her, _**no! If we fail we'll never see Sasuke-kun again because he's sure to pass!**_ Sakura can only agree, and after watching Naruto for the last couple of hours she begrudgingly admits that he is probably stronger than she is as well.

Kakashi continues, "Furthermore, you only have until noon to get the bells or you all fail." Setting an alarm clock that he pulls from nowhere he also sets down two meals. "After the test the winners can have this food and then they'll start their new lives as genin of Konoha, or if no one passes I guess I'll just have a big lunch today," and he gives his eye smile.

Naruto asks, "Kakashi-sensei, exactly how many genins have you ever passed?"

Looking thoughtful Kakashi says, "I'm glad you asked Naruto. Over the last four years I've tested one group of three every six months and so far…no one has passed." Now the eye smile looked decidedly evil and he said, "Begin," and Sasuke and Sakura both immediately jump away.

Naruto, however, is just standing around with his hands behind his head, a broad smile gracing his face. "You know, compared to the others, you're kind of weird."

Naruto's smile somehow grows and he says, "So what's the real test Kakashi-sensei?"

Kakashi pulls a small orange book form his kunai holster and starts reading, "I don't know what you mean Naruto." From his voice you could almost tell he was smiling, but between the mask and the book it was impossible to tell.

"Oh really? Because this test doesn't make a lot of sense. I mean, even on the most basic level how likely is it that any student could ever get a bell from a jonin? At least if they worked alone, then again we were put on teams so maybe we're supposed to work together. But if that were the case, why only two bells?" Naruto openly mused about all of this without shifting a step and it caused various reactions in his two teammates and sensei. Kakashi was wondering how the boy knew, Sasuke was thinking Naruto was an idiot to still be out there, and Sakura was considering if Naruto could possibly be right.

It was then that Naruto just flung up his hands and said, "Oh well, looks like I'm alone," and he charged at Kakashi head on.

Kakashi was disappointed and easily dodged several clumsy swings before saying, "For a ninja, life or death is determined by their skill level. In order to survive ninja must be the best so here's a free lesson in taijutsu," and he quickly gets behind Naruto and forms a tiger hand sign. "Never let an enemy get behind you," and he shouts, "HIDDEN LEAF VILLIAGE SECRET TECHNIQUE: THOUSAND YEARS OF DEATH!" and he shoves his finger up Naruto's butt, sending him flying.

Midway into the flight Naruto poofs out of existence in a cloud of smoke and Kakashi thinks, _kage bunshin? When did he trade out?_ All the while a smile steals across his face as he silently congratulates the son of his former sensei.

Meanwhile, Naruto appears next to Sasuke and whispers, "Hey teme," causing the Uchiha to jump a little and Naruto to snicker before saying, "Sorry about spooking you. Anyway, what do you think of my idea about teaming up?" Sasuke doesn't say anything, just moves to a different position and sets a trap for Kakashi. Naruto sighs and finds Sakura who quickly agrees when he says, "If I'm wrong and we get the bells you and Sasuke can have them, but if I'm right you owe me a favor."

Sakura had asked, "What kind of favor?"

Naruto said, "Not what you're thinking. I just need someone to get some things for me from the library because one of the ladies there always kicks me out and never lets me borrow any scrolls. I just want to be the best I can be, but without those scrolls I can't really learn much on my own time."

The slight pleading in his voice convinced her and she agreed, but said, "I don't think the two of us are going to be able to get the bells without Sasuke-ken though."

Naruto nodded and said, "You're probably right, so lets go find him." In full accord, they both start to search for Sasuke and find him buried up to his neck in the ground. Sakura immediately faints away, thinking that Sasuke was killed, but Naruto just snickers and says, "Hey teme! Want to reconsider working together?"

"Hn," was Sasuke's only response.

"Okay, here's the deal. If I'm right the bells don't really matter and this test is about teamwork, but if I'm wrong, and we get the bells, I'll give them to you and Sakura. Deal?"

"…Fine, just dig me out and we'll get the bells together."

Nodding, Naruto wakes Sakura and they quickly free Sasuke, but as they're planning what to do the alarm goes off and Kakashi shows up and says, "You fail, but I'm feeling generous so I'll give you two more hours. I'll even let Sasuke and Naruto eat those box lunches I brought to replenish their strength, but Sakura doesn't get any because she never even tried to get a bell," and just to make sure he ties Sakura to a post. Once the boys sit down with their food Kakashi says darkly, "Remember, I make the rules, you follow the rules. A ninja who fails to follow the rules is trash," and he disappears.

Naruto quickly eats half his food while Sasuke is slowly nibbling away at his, but then Naruto stands up and offers some food to Sakura who asks in surprise, "What are you doing? You heard Kakashi-sensei."

Naruto shakes his head, "You need your strength, otherwise the plan won't work."

Sasuke silently holds his bowl out to Sakura, "The dobe's right, the only chance we have of beating him is if we work together."

Sakura has stars in her eyes, but says, "My arms are tied, so you'll have to feed me," while looking at Sasuke.

Naruto snickers as Sasuke begins doing just that and laughs openly as Sakura tries to take the food from the chopsticks in the most seductive manner she can manage.

Just then Kakashi shows up and roars, "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?! I TOLD YOU SHE DOESN'T EAT!!" All the while releasing a small controlled amount of killing intent.

Sasuke was slightly off put, Sakura was stuttering, and Naruto calmly said, "We're a team, and without any food Sakura will just be a hindrance to the team."

After a few seconds of fuming Kakashi says, "THEN MY VERDICT IS…" and the KI disappears, "you pass."

While the other two looked shocked and happy Naruto bursts out laughing and says to Sasuke, "I win our bet teme, you owe me all my meals for a month!"

Sasuke pales and nods, but Sakura asks, "What bet?"

"We made a bet about the true nature of the test while you were still unconscious and I just won. Thanks Kakashi-sensei!"

Sweat dropping, Kakashi says, "Well…anyway, it's like I said earlier: A ninja who fails to follow the rules is trash, but what I didn't add before was that a ninja who abandons their teammates is lower than trash. That's the number one rule in Konoha and the reason why Konoha is so strong. Other nations focus on individual strengths and commonly produce excellent ninja, but Konoha has always sought to make teams of ninja that are strong enough together to take on any enemy." Smiling his eye-smile, Kakashi said, "Okay Team 7, meet here tomorrow at 9am for our first mission."

Inner Sakura celebrated while outer remained stoic and calm.

Sasuke grumbled about how he hopped missions paid well while looking at Naruto and wishing he'd never bet against the blonde.

Naruto, meanwhile, was whooping and hollering about how they had passed and rubbing it in how Sasuke owed him all those meals, but he didn't forget to untie Sakura before they all left. He remembered still, from his past life, being stuck on that post for hours before Kakashi finally came back.

XXXXX

Later that day the Hokage was waiting on the arrival of Kakashi to get the reports from his jonin instructors on which teams had passed. When Kakashi showed up the Sandaime just smiled and said, "A new record Kakashi. You were only an hour late to the meeting." Kakashi just smiled back and Sarutobi chuckled a bit before returning his 'Hokage' face and saying, "Report."

The reports for the potential teams one through six were disappointing, but Kurenai Yuhi said, "Team 8, consisting of Shino Aburame, Kiba Inuzuka, and Hinata Hyuga…pass with flying colors," and she smiles broadly.

His eldest son, Asuma Sarutobi, says between puffs of his cigarette, "Team 10, consisting of Shikamaru Nara, Choji Akimichi, and Ino Yamanaka has also passed." He said it somewhat lazily and the Hokage was mildly disapproving, but thought, _at least he should get along well with the Nara,_ before smiling.

Finally, all eyes turn to the only jonin who has yet to speak only to see Kakashi Hatake reading his little orange book, and he kept reading even after incredulous looks turned to murderous ones. When he finally stopped he said, "Sorry, had to get to a stopping place…why are we here again?"

Everyone, except the Hokage, face faulted at that. The Hokage just chuckled and said, "My old student is a very good writer don't you think Kakashi?" Most of the male jonin in the room had the good grace to look ashamed that they agreed with their Hokage, while Kurenai, being the only female in the room just huffed, turning her nose up and covering her ample bust with her crossed arms. Kakashi and Hiruzen Sarutobi just shared a small smile as Sarutobi asked, "What of Team 7?"

Kakashi made a face as if to say it should be obvious, but said formally, "Team 7, consisting of Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, and Sakura Haruno…passed." With that, silence reigned, and all those who knew Kakashi's record for failing every student he'd been offered were stunned.

Sarutobi got over the shock first as he realized he had to finish out the meeting. "Very good then. Teams 7, 8, and 10 are officially added to the ranks as genin. Kakashi Hatake, Kurenai Yuhi, and Asuma Sarutobi, do you hereby accept responsibility for the young genin on your teams? Will you teach them to the best of their ability to learn and your ability to teach? Will you guard these young lives so long as they are in your care?"

With one voice they affirmed, "We will."

A/N - So that's Chapter 2 of "Time and Again." This chapter was inspired by the first reviewer for this story: stc-dragon. The review just said they wanted to see how the test for Team 7 would go, otherwise I was planning on just doing something very short for that and moving on. So if you like the chapter thank stc-dragon for the review, if you think I should have gone the way I'd originally planned…well, I'd like to say blame the reviewer, but instead I'll say blame me. To all reviewers: your reviews have impact, so keep 'em coming. To the reviewer OverLordReven: Naruto doesn't blame Hinata for not being there for him, he's just concerned what kind of relationship they should have. This story is a romance between Naruto and a female Haku ONLY, I felt Hinata's feelings needed to be addressed and gotten out of the way. To the reviewer narutofanfiction: Kyuubi won't have a female form unless something bad happens and Naruto needs someone for comfort. In this story, Kyuu-chan is taking a sort of mother/older sister position in Naruto's life. Like most kids in that position Naruto won't speak a lot to her, nor will she have a heavy impact on the story except when Naruto needs help working things out.

_**Next Chapter: D-ranks and training, and maybe the beginning of the Wave mission since I hate romances that take too long to introduce both parties.**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**Chapter 3**_

_**The next day, at training ground 7, Sasuke arrived first just after 7am and began working on the tree climbing exercise because at dinner the previous night, which he shared with Naruto at Ichiraku's for the first meal of his debt, Naruto had explained why it was so important. Sasuke was interested to learn that he simply wouldn't be able to progress with most of the higher level ninjutsu unless he kept his chakra control at a sufficient level. Of course, he had known that on a basic level, but he had never thought that control exercises needed to be like his physical training in that if he didn't keep it up it would deteriorate.**_

_**Logically he should have realized it, but, like most academy students, once he had mastered the initially difficult task of the leaf balancing, the only chakra control exercise the academy taught, he had never done it again as it didn't seem worth his time. **_

_**He'd quickly finished his ramen then because Sakura had shown up and he'd immediately gone home and spent the next 3 hours on the leaf balancing exercise. Now, he thought he might see where those couple hours had helped him as his first attempt at the tree had gotten him 6 feet higher than he'd gotten the day before.**_

_**30 minutes later he was exhausted, but he had made it all the way up and then down the tree one time. Panting a little, and smiling slightly, he thought, **_**maybe a little hard work isn't so bad after all. Brother…always…said…,**_** but as his thoughts trained on Itachi he got a second wind and started up and down the tree again several more times.**_

_**XXXXX**_

_**Sakura had awoken early that morning and, knowing that Sasuke would likely be at the training grounds early, started to prepare to go so she could be with him that much longer, but she stopped as she considered her conversation with Naruto the night before.**_

_**She had gone to the library immediately after Kakashi released them and found some beginners level taijutsu scrolls for Naruto, as he admitted that that was currently his biggest weakness, and she, almost, admired his determination to improve himself. …Okay, so she admired it a little, but he'd never be as good as Sasuke…right? After the day they'd had she wasn't so sure, but it didn't really matter. If he got stronger then Sasuke would want to get stronger and she'd have to make sure she didn't hold her crush back.**_

_**That was why she'd asked Naruto as he treated her to a bowl of ramen what he thought she should do to get stronger. She'd only asked because he had known something that not even Sasuke had known, and she figured it couldn't hurt to get his opinion as she knew what Sasuke would say if she asked him, and she wasn't comfortable admitting how weak she was to Kakashi-sensei just yet.**_

_**Naruto had turned to her with a serious expression on his face and said, "Sakura, right now you're probably the weakest actual genin in this whole village." She was hurt and angry by that, but Naruto held up his hands and said, "Let me finish. You don't come from a clan so you don't have any clan techniques to fall back on, nor any help waiting for you at home to help with training, so it's only natural you'd be at a disadvantage in ninja skills. Also, you've never really practiced outside of class have you?"**_

_**She shook her head, seeing where he was going and he'd sighed before continuing, "Right now the only jutsu you know are the basic three, your taijutsu is a little better than mine as mine sucks right now, but you don't have the physical strength or stamina to truly make good use of that. Your aim with kunai and shuriken is good at stationary targets, but moving targets are another matter. Right now you've got the basics and the book smarts, but not much else."**_

_**She had fidgeted a bit, thinking she'd really like to hit him about then, but eventually she had to admit he was right so she asked again, "What can I do not to hold this team back then? I don't want to be weak," she mumbled the last as a few tears escaped her control.**_

_**Naruto had looked at her and then asked, "Why do you want to be a ninja Sakura?"**_

_**Her immediate thought was to answer with 'so I can be with Sasuke', but she didn't think that was what Naruto wanted to hear, so she closed her mouth before saying those words and thought, **_**why did I originally want to be a ninja? I had made the decision long before I knew Sasuke…even before I met Ino.**_** Thoughts of her one time friend hurt, but she quickly closed off that line of thought and focused on why she originally wanted to be a ninja.**_

_**She sat like that for a few minutes before she finally remembered and, cursing herself for forgetting, she said, "My parents were both merchants, but when I was three my dad left to get some items they were going to sell at the store. Once, before I was born, my parents would have hired ninja for the job, as the town he was purchasing items from often had…problems. You know, thieves, killers, and just thugs out for a quick buck." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before continuing, "It would have been a C-class mission, and, before the nine-tailed-fox attacked they could have afforded the cost, but after all those ninja were killed there were fewer around to do missions and so prices went up. The day my dad left…mom tried to stop him…tried to say they should hire ninja in spite of the increased cost, but dad…he said that everything would be okay, and…," but she couldn't continue as the tears would no longer be held back.**_

_**Naruto held her for some time as she cried, and the waitress, Ayame, held her from behind, gently rocking the broken girl before her. Teuchi had heard similar stories before, but he had stopped working to listen to Sakura as well and he only just restrained himself from joining the group hug to support the crying girl. Ayame had also heard such stories before, but hadn't the willpower or desire to stop herself from offering comfort to the girl.**_

_**A few minutes went by that way, but eventually Sakura pulled herself together, wiped her eyes and thanked Ayame and Naruto for understanding and offering her what comfort they could. Once she'd recomposed herself, she continued, "My daddy died because he couldn't defend himself and there weren't enough ninja around, so I decided that I'd become a ninja so that, maybe, another little girl wouldn't lose her father so young."**_

_**Naruto nodded once and said, "Right now you're ideally suited to begin two fields: genjutsu or medical jutsu. Both require nearly perfect chakra control, which you have, but before you truly can follow either path you need to build your reserves up. I'd say the best way for you to do that is to perform the leaf balancing exercise for as long as you can, and once you can't hold it any longer, rest a bit, and do it again. Each time you do it you should try to hold it a little longer than the time before. It doesn't matter if it's only a couple seconds longer, you need to push yourself."**_

_**She looked confused and was about to ask how a chakra control exercise was supposed to help her reserves when he said, "Think about it Sakura. Chakra reserves grow each and every time you use your chakra, it's just that it's usually by such a small amount that you can't notice. Doing a chakra control exercise like this is a work out for your chakra coils and at the same time will keep your control high, but because your current reserves are so low, they should grow slightly faster than your control. Also, when you stop noticing improvement, do the tree climbing exercise a bit to get your control up again and then go back to the leaf balancing. I won't lie to you, this will be slow going, but, where you are now, anything more strenuous could be dangerous."**_

_**She had nodded, smiled, and thanked him, but before she could go he said, "Once your reserves are high enough I'd talk to team 8's sensei and ask if she thinks you are ready to begin learning genjutsu, she'd know best. Also, use that brain of yours and study anatomy in the library a bit." He shrugged and said, "After all, it doesn't do to specialize too much, so I suggest you try to learn both genjutsu and medical jutsu. I mean, I might never have that level of control, and I don't think either field really interest Sasuke."**_

_**With that she bowed slightly and thanked him for his advice, and once she was home she began trying what he had suggested.**_

_**Now it was morning, and, just to check, she tried the exercise again. The night before she'd held the leaf only a couple minutes, but now she went almost five straight minutes before she really felt the drain. It was improvement, and she couldn't help the smile that blossomed on her face. **_

_**XXXXX**_

_**After Sakura was gone Ayame gave Naruto a big hug and a kiss on the cheek before going back to work and Teuchi smiled his big smile and said, "Well done," before he too went back to work.**_

_**Embarrassed, Naruto quickly finished his ramen and said goodnight before scampering off at top speed, not for his apartment, but for one of the parks near his apartment. He had a scroll to study and practice, so that maybe, he could get his taijutsu where it should be, and while his apartment had light to study by it didn't offer the space to work out in. Similarly, a training ground had the space, but not the light to study the scroll from, thus the park with lit lampposts was ideal for both light and space. Also, the park nearest his home rarely had visitors due to its' close proximity to his apartment, and the good people of Konoha wouldn't willingly risk their children being anywhere near him.**_

_**He studied the scroll a bit, then summoned 5 clones to make sure his form looked right. After an hour he dispersed his clones and re-summoned 5 more and had them do the forms while he looked at the scroll. He repeated this process well into the night before he felt he had made a good start. He knew he wouldn't get far studying this way, but for now it was the best he could do.**_

_**The next morning he had made a decision, but sought Kyuu-chan's approval before he began. **_**Kyuu-chan**_**, he thought.**_

_**Groggily Kyuubi responded, **_what is it Kit?

**I think I should use my shadow clones for chakra control now that I've got the three control lessons down.**

_**Kyuubi was silent a minute before, **_do as you wish Kit, but don't go overboard or you'll get caught, and, right now, that would mean questions you can't answer. …Actually, as long as you keep it low key you should be able to master everything you know in this way, but I still want you learning on your own before you use your clones, okay?

_**Smiling brightly, Naruto thought, **_**thanks Kyuu-chan!**

_**It was 7am and so Naruto summoned 5 shadow clones into his apartment and they all cleared a space in the living room and he had one with the scroll, one moving through the forms and the other three take up chakra exercises. One got some leaves and practiced floating multiple leaves from various points of its' body, one took one leaf and balanced it while walking on the walls and the ceiling of the bedroom, and the last filled the tub and stood on that water while balancing its' own leaf. It was all pretty simple stuff, but Naruto felt that you've got to start somewhere.**_

_**He figured he had a few hours before Kakashi would show so he summoned and sent one clone to training ground 7. It was to focus on sensing chakra, hopefully it would sense Kakashi with enough time to disperse and give Naruto enough time to get there.**_

You should send another so your teammates think you're there,_** the Kyuubi then yawned and it was clear she was going back to sleep.**_

_**Naruto thought it strange the Kyuu-chan should go back to sleep as she usually stayed awake if he was, but he shrugged it off for now and did some stretches followed by some quick exercises, and then left his apartment to begin jogging around the village while also practicing his stealth skills, so as to avoid drawing attention.**_

_**XXXXX**_

_**The next few hours had Naruto run several laps around Konoha after his initial jog and Sasuke progress in tree climbing to the point where he could simply stand there at his ease, which while harder than running up and down the tree, was no longer a challenge. Thus he turned to the clone of Naruto and observed him standing on his own tree and balancing a leaf above his head. Sasuke nodded, satisfied that he knew what to do next and that he hadn't had to ask.**_

_**At some point during his training Sakura had shown up, but, to his immense relief, she left him alone for once. After a few minutes though, he became curious what she was doing so he stopped the joint chakra control exercise he had been attempting and hopped down beside her to ask, "What are you doing Sakura?"**_

_**She was so flustered that she lost concentration and glared at Sasuke a moment before realizing it was him and flushed before stuttering out, "N-Naruto re-recommended that I build up my chakra reserves," she finished in a rush.**_

_**Sasuke was surprised and looked to where Naruto was to find the blonde smiling a small smile and Sasuke had to admit he was grateful, as he was sure she was going to be the weak link and hold him back.**_

_**Around this time the real Naruto arrived and switched out with the clone and seconds later Kakashi showed up and found his three students all looked ready to go, but with clear signs that they'd been training as well. He smiled a bit, though all his students saw was his uncovered eye form the characteristic 'u' shape.**_

_**Still smiling, Kakashi said, "I hope you're ready for your first official mission as real ninja of Konoha," and getting an enthusiastic nod from Sakura, a grunt from Sasuke, and a slightly hesitant nod from a pale faced Naruto, he led them to the Hokage for their first team mission.**_

_**He was confused by Naruto's reaction though, but it would have been clear if he could read his mind. Then he would have heard the repeated mantra of 'Please not Tora, please not Tora…' to the background nose of the Kyuubi no Kitsune's barking laughter.**_

_**XXXXX**_

_**AN: Sorry this took so long for me to post and it didn't go as far as I wanted (didn't even get the first mission), but I felt that was a good place to stop for now. Anyway, for my timeline, team 7 has a little less than 2 months now until Wave, which could start next chapter or the one after that. For now I guess that's it, TTFN.**_


	4. Chapter 4

_**Chapter 4**_

_**As Naruto had feared, by the time team 7 got to the Hokage's office the only D-rank mission available had been to capture Tora, and it was no coincidence that the mission had been passed over by all the other genin teams. Most jonin sensei from previous years, whose teams were still genin anyway, had put their teams through that mission many times and so, felt they had done their due. Meanwhile, Kurenai and Asuma had both decided to let that mission wait awhile, as they both felt that it was too early in their young charges ninja carriers to face the monster known as Tora. Gai had almost taken it for his team, saying it was the most challenging and that his 'youthful' team was more than up for another round with Tora, but Tenten had quickly hit him over the head and accepted another mission on behalf of her team. Not even Lee objected.**_

_**So, arriving last, team7 had no other options to choose from and the hunt for Tora had begun.**_

_**Several hours later, a dirty, tired, and heavily scratched up team 7 returned with a still struggling Tora in Sakura's arms. They'd each carried the little monster for a bit, even Kakashi as he'd felt bad his team had had to face Tora so soon. To make it up to his team he treated them to a late lunch and, while Naruto would have preferred ramen, all agreed that the sushi bar he'd taken them to made excellent food.**_

_**After the meal the three young genin thought they'd be dismissed and were each planning to continue training on their own, but Kakashi surprised them.**_

"_**I noticed that each of you had been training yourselves before I arrived this morning and I'm curious what you were doing."**_

_**Naruto blinked a bit, wondering where the interest in his students had come from, **_**since when has Kakashi shown an interest in his student like this Kyuu-chan?**

I don't know Kit, but maybe you've already changed something and it has affected your lazy teacher, _**Kyuubi responded, sounding just as shocked as Naruto had.**_

_**Meanwhile, Sasuke said that he'd been working on his chakra control and Sakura said how she'd been working to up her chakra reserves, and now all three were staring at Naruto as he hadn't spoken yet. Kakashi cleared his throat to get the blondes attention.**_

_**Naruto snapped out of his private musings with Kyuubi and rubbed the back of his head and said, "Sorry about that. Anyway, I've been trying to work on my taijutsu from a scroll on the basics that Sakura got me from the library, and also on my chakra control."**_

_**Kakashi was quite pleased hearing their answers as the reports he'd read had basically said those were their biggest weaknesses and they were already working on fixing them. He was especially pleased with Naruto's answer as those same reports had numerous accounts of how he refused to acknowledge those same faults. And, smiling his unique eye smile at them, Kakashi said, "Well I'd like to see how far you've progressed, and where I need to help you, so lets' get back to the training ground where I can properly test you."**_

_**A short walk later he said, "Ladies first," and handed her a single leaf. "Now, I want you to balance this above your dominant hand with chakra and hold it firmly in place as high as you can for as long as you can." Once she'd nodded and proceeded as instructed he turned to Sasuke and said, "I need you to stand on the bottom side of the tree branch above us while balancing a leaf above your head, and try to keep it absolutely still."**_

_**He turned to Naruto and asked, "Have you figured out water walking yet?" Naruto nodded and Kakashi said, "Good, then I want you to do that for me. Also, if you can, balance a leaf over your head like I told Sasuke to do."**_

_**They all did as they were told and Sasuke was surprised as Naruto stood upon the water, but instead of getting angry or jealous, he determined to get Sakura to tell them how to do that later. He still couldn't ask the 'dobe' for advice, but he saw himself getting better from the tree climbing exercise and determined that anything Naruto could teach him would get him one step closer to killing Itachi. The thought that Naruto might know things he didn't was bothering him a little, but then he recalled how Naruto had always been called the #1 surprise ninja. Also, he thought about some of the pranks Naruto had pulled over the years and how afterword he routinely led chunin, jonin, and even ANBU over hours long chases through the village.**_

_**Sakura was similarly impressed that Naruto seemed to know something else that neither Sasuke or she knew, but she just smiled slightly, and focused on her task.**_

_**A few minutes later Sakura was panting, but still holding the leaf in place and Kakashi said, "That's enough," and when his students gathered back around him he smiled at them. "Well, it's clear how much each of you have improved already, and that's quite surprising since you only just became genin."**_

_**As the three smiled at the praise…well, Sasuke scowled, but it was as close to a real smile as he'd had for some time so it counted, Kakashi was thinking whether or not they were ready, and, making up his mind, held out three squares of paper to them. Of the three, only Naruto knew what it was, but he quickly concealed that knowledge so as not to draw attention to himself.**_

_**Sakura asked, "What are these for sensei?" as she took one.**_

_**Giving his classic smile, Kakashi responded, "Those are special pieces of paper called chakra paper, and they're used to determine your elemental affinity, that is, the type of elemental jutsu that will come most naturally to you. All you have to do is focus your chakra into it and it will react in different ways, I'll explain after you've done it so just go ahead," and he waved his hand lazily at them.**_

_**Each nodded and, to Naruto's surprise, his paper did more than simply cut the one time as he'd been expecting. It did that of course, but it then cut several more times until he had half a dozen equal sized strips of paper and he hesitantly asked, **_**Kyuu-chan?**

_**After a moments' thought Kyuubi responded, **_I guess you kept some of the wind chakra you built up in the future, and, because you weren't aware of it, it went a little out of control there. Hmm, so you didn't lose everything from before,_** Kyuubi mused.**_

_**Naruto accepted that and turned to see that Sasuke's paper had first crumpled and then the outer edges fell away in ash. He turned to Sakura to see…nothing had happened. **_

_**Sakura was confused and asked, "What does this mean Kakashi-sensei?"**_

_**He put his hand on her shoulder and smiled and said, "Don't worry about it Sakura, just try again, and if there still aren't any results it means you don't have any natural affinities. Then you have the choice of either developing one or simply working on learning non-elemental specialties like genjutsu or medical jutsu." He posed in a thinking mode for a moment, meaning hand on chin while looked up slightly, and said, "I could probably trade you lessons in genjutsu from Kurenai in exchange for ninjutsu lessons for one or more of her students, hmm."**_

_**Naruto, who was confused by something Kakashi had said, asked, "You can develop affinities? How?!"**_

_**The eagerness was clear in his voice and Kakashi wrote him a quick note to take to Hokage tower where an ANBU could easily be found, and it instructed any ANBU to give Naruto a scroll on developing nature affinities. He turned to Sasuke and asked, "Would you like to develop other affinities as well? It's not necessary for using techniques and it's a lot of work, but, if you manage, any jutsu you learn in that type will be a bit stronger and easier to master. Also, you already have some level of affinity for both lightning and fire, but that still leaves wind, water, and earth. Wind can be used to increase the efficiency with hand-to-hand and armed combat. Water and earth tend to favor defense."**_

_**Sasuke thought about it, but shook his head no. He figured that if he needed it later he'd get it then, and while he was willing to work harder now than he had in years that didn't mean he was eager to add even more to his workload.**_

_**During this time Sakura had pushed more and more chakra into the piece of paper, hoping for some result, but eventually Kakashi stopped her and said, "That's enough Sakura, but don't worry about it. For now just keep working on your chakra reserves and I'll get you some basics to start on genjutsu or medical jutsu if you want."**_

"_**But what about developing an affinity?"**_

_**He smiled sadly and said, "Right now you don't have enough chakra to really work on it, but don't worry, you can still learn ninjutsu, besides you're in good company as many famous ninja are born without an inborn nature affinity. Even Tsunade of the Sannin started her ninja carrier with that handicap, it's why she became the most famous medic-nin in history, because she didn't want to bother developing an affinity."**_

_**This cheered Sakura up immensely and she asked, "Could you get me started learning both fields Kakashi-sensei?"**_

_**He looked confused a moment and said, "I can, of course, but why would you want to study both fields. Going that route would mean you'll either have to work twice as hard, or you'll never be very good at either."**_

"_**I know, and I'm willing to work hard, but Naruto pointed out how it's never a good idea to specialize too much in any one field. Also, I figured that if Sasuke, Naruto, or even you ever got hurt on a mission it would be good to have someone with medical training, and other that that genjutsu provides good cover for close combat and ninjutsu specialists like both Sasuke and Naruto want to be."**_

"_**Well...that's very well thought out Sakura. Like I said before, I can probably get team 8's jonin sensei to help you with genjutsu, and she's easily the best in that field in the village, but for medical training, I'm afraid that all I can really get you are the basics. To go beyond that you'll have to ask around the hospital to find if any of the doctors can spare some time to teach you. Okay?"**_

_**She nodded and Kakashi finally turned to Naruto and said, "Now your response from the chakra paper was the most surprising, as it means you're more developed in wind chakra than a usual beginner would be. Usually the paper would only have cut once, but yours' cut multiple times, which indicates that you've passed the initial barrier to mastering your first element. Asuma should be able to give you hints, plus that scroll the note should get you, and some jutsu I can show you, all together you should have full mastery of the wind element."**_

_**Naruto was happy to hear it, and he already knew how to work on wind manipulation, but he'd have to be careful not to show too much progress too fast. "So, what should I do for now Kakashi-sensei?"**_

"_**Hmm," Kakashi thought a minute before saying, "Well, your chakra control is about as good as it gets with your reserves and the basic three control lessons. You won't notice any improvement from the leaf balancing alone and tree climbing alone isn't much better if you can water walk, but combining them or using multiple leaves should give some improvement. The next stage of the control lessons are usually considered jonin level and the first of those is kunai balancing. Unlike tree climbing and water walking, kunai balancing doesn't have a lot of practical use aside from upping your control."**_

"_**Wait a minute, Kakashi-sensei are you saying that I shouldn't bother with the basic three control exercises?"**_

"_**Not at all Naruto, just because you can't get MUCH help doesn't mean they won't help you at all, but, as you've obviously already discovered, combining leaf balancing and either of the other two exercises is of markedly greater help. Sasuke, from where you are, you should also be combining the exercises and both of you should add multiple leaves from as many locations on your body as you can. Once you can balance leaves from your head, hands, shoulders, elbows, chest (2 or 3), knees, and feet, all at the same time while tree climbing and then while water walking, then I'll get you started on kunai balancing."**_

_**XXXXX**_

_**That was how the first month went. Naruto quietly trained his chakra control until he was able to do as Kakashi required them to do, but didn't reveal his skill in order to avoid drawing any more attention than he already had. Thus, he spent more time working on his taijutsu, but Kakashi expected him to train his control up so he sent a few clones out of his apartment and to various locations. No more than one to any location so that, hopefully, no one would realize he knew the secret of Kage Bunshin.**_

_**He also got a little help on his taijutsu from Gai and Lee, and while they were helping him they also helped Sakura and a reluctant Sasuke, who had it painfully proven to him that he was far from the best. They also all got talked into wearing weights, though not even Naruto wanted to wear as much as Lee and Gai wear. All of this in exchange for Kakashi giving Tenten some help developing her twin affinities of earth and fire, though he had to convince her that it would be wise to avoid being so specialized. He did this by a mock duel with Naruto where he was only allowed to blow her weapons off course. They continued this until she ran out of weapons and, while everyone was impressed by the sheer volume and variety of weapons, it was clear that Naruto could have kept it up for hours. Tenten was suitably humbled and agreed to learn from Kakashi.**_

_**Kakashi also helped Neji strengthen his chakra control so he could fight longer, but he refused to learn any ninjutsu.**_

_**Also during this time Sakura got some basic first aid lessons and genjutsu lessons from Kurenai. It turned out that Kurenai was good at both, though she had heavily focused on genjutsu so she could only give Sakura a beginners course on first aid. Sakura also learned water walking and her reserves were slowly growing and she took a few lessons with Gai and Lee as well, but only a few as they freaked her out.**_

_**Sasuke learned from Lee and Gai and his chakra control was steadily improving, but it was nowhere near where Kakashi said he wanted it. He could do up to 5 leaves at various points and tree walk for a limited time, but he'd hit a wall and wasn't getting better. He could also water walk, but even trying to balance 2 leaves would cause him to lose his balance. Altogether he was still happy with his improvement, especially with Kakashi teaching him some low level lightning jutsu.**_

_**He had been upset that Kakashi would only teach him up to C-rank lightning jutsu, but Kakashi had explained that he needed to master the small stuff before he could move on to the big stuff. He was content…for now.**_

_**XXXXX**_

_**At the end of that first month everyone on team 7 was stronger than they had been, they'd done a few missions a week and spent the rest of the time training, and Naruto showed Kakashi he was ready for kunai balancing.**_

"_**Okay Naruto, you've convinced me. Now the kunai balancing is a three part process, first you need to work with a kunai like you would with a leaf. The idea is to be able to balance the kunai on the palm of your hand using chakra. Once you can get the RAZOR SHARP kunai to balance without pricking your hand you move on to the next stage. Here you embed kunai into a tree and try to focus your chakra to attach yourself at the point and pull your full weight from the ground. Then, once you can do that, you put the kunai in the ground and try to walk from one to the next, but you WILL give your word that you won't be attempting the third phase without me being there to observe. Make no mistake, ninja have ended their careers by attempting the third phase too soon," and he looked closely at Naruto.**_

_**Naruto nodded and said, "I promise," and so, he began this next stage of chakra control.**_

_**XXXXX**_

_**The day finally arrived, and when team 7 went to get a mission the Hokage was prepared to hand them another D-rank when Naruto said, "Oh come on Ojii-san! We've done enough D-rank, so give us a C-rank already!"**_

_**Iruka, who was assisting the Hokage that day said, "Naruto! Show respect for the Hokage!"**_

_**Sarutobi just chuckled and said, "I was beginning to wonder if you were ever going to protest Naruto. Kakashi said your team was ready a week ago."**_

_**Naruto smirked, but the rest of team 7 just gaped and Sakura and Sasuke both had the same thought: **_**you mean all we had to do is whine and we could have avoided that last capture Tora mission.**_** Once that thought fully formed they glared at Kakashi.**_

_**Kakashi looked up from his book and said, "What? It's important that you think yourselves ready so you either speak up or do 50 D-rank."**_

_**As Sasuke and Sakura both realized that whining really did get them their first C-rank the Hokage just chuckled at the various expressions that crossed their faces. Eventually he pulled one of the C-rank from the stack of scrolls and said to Iruka, "Please call in Tazuna."**_

_**Nodding, Iruka said, "Hai Hokage-sama," and he left thinking that whining never helped him when he'd been a genin.**_

_**While Iruka was gone Sarutobi explained the mission and handed the scroll off to Kakashi who, in turn, handed it to Naruto who had somehow ended up the leader of the genin.**_

_**A few minutes later a large man came in drinking from a jug and smelling strongly of booze. He belched and looked around before saying, "What? Is this all I get for protection for all the money I paid Hokage-sama? A slip of a girl, two boys, and a one eyed man?"**_

_**There was chuckling, but it wasn't coming from the Hokage, instead it was coming from Naruto who was holding Tazuna's jug. No one had been paying too much attention, so only Sarutobi and Kakashi had seen him move…actually, Sasuke and Sakura saw him move as well, but they had been signaled beforehand by Naruto. So, really, it was just Iruka and Tazuna who were gaping at what Naruto had done.**_

_**Naruto sniffed at the jug but quickly pulled away, saying, "Wow! That's some low grade junk! Sasuke, could you dispose of this for me please?"**_

_**Sasuke smirked and, as Naruto threw the jug out the window, he formed a tiger seal and blew out a long, thin stream of fire that ignited the alcohol in a small explosion.**_

_**Naruto whistled and said, "And you've been drinking that swill?"**_

_**Tazuna just continued to gape, but eventually the Hokage explained that Kakashi was a jonin and those two 'boys' as Tazuna had called them were more than capable of dealing with a C-class mission. At this Tazuna squirmed a bit, but no one seemed to see it…except Naruto who had been looking for it.**_

_**Kakashi said, "Okay, we move out in 2 hours. Meet at the east gate and prepare for at least a month long mission."**_

"_**Hai sensei," they all said together before nodding to each other and heading off.**_

_**Kakashi just grabbed Tazuna and said, "Come on, there's time to get you a good drink to replace the one my students objected to." Nodding to the Hokage and Iruka he heads off with a somewhat dumbfounded Tazuna.**_

_**AN: And that gets a little more training in and then the next chapter will start the Wave arc.**_


End file.
